Weapons violations among adults and juveniles continue a steady climb in SC, SLED reports
More people in 2023 were charged with weapons violations in South Carolina than in past years, contributing to a growing 10-year trend.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division reported Tuesday that gun related charges were up 1.8% in 2023 compared to 2022. Nearly 91% of those weapon infractions included firearms, with at least 75.1% being handguns, the report said.
“The number of Weapon Law Violations are going up at a rapid pace,” SLED Chief Mark Keel said in a news release. “The number of these offenses has more than doubled in the last decade. Law enforcement continues to encounter offenders with guns every day, many of whom are young.”
The rate of weapon violations per ten thousand people increased by 11.1 percent from 2021 to 2022. From 2014 to 2023, violations rose 129.7 percent, with a total increase of 624. 4 percent in the last thirty years, according to the report.
Of the 13,687 people charged with gun violations in 2023, 11,723 were adults and 1,964 were juveniles.
As far as weapon violations offenses, 8,549 were cleared last year out of 11,410 reports, data shows.
Still, the rate of violent crime across multiple categories including murder, sexual battery, robbery and aggravated assault were down in 2023 compared to 2022.
SLED’s annual crime report is complied by crime rates reported by state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Of 277 agencies, 204 — or 73 percent — reported all 12 months of crime data while 10 agencies reported no data, the report said.
“I want to thank our law enforcement partners for sending in their data so everyone can see these trends,” Keel said. “This information helps us better understand the challenges our communities face.”
